Quill winder



N. B. HENRY QUILL WINDER July 3, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 10, 1958 1 itc The mechanism comprising this disclosure relates to apparatus for handling a quill or bobbin of the type commonly used for introducing the filling into a fabric being woven on a loom.

The broad object of this invention is to provide an improved machine for rapidly winding a quill to provide a package of yarn of the desired diameter, density and contour.

An important object of this invention is to provide a mechanism of this type having incorporated therein features to insure substantially uniform tension in the yarn being delivered to the quill during the formation of the package.

Another object is to provide in a quill winder mechanism for forming a bunch as the initial step of forming a package.

Many additional objects are successfully secured by means of the mechanism herein disclosed, the single embodiment thereof illustrating a preferred but not necessarily sole form of the mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of this invention selected to illustrate the structure and principles thereof with some parts broken away for better illustrative purposes;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the machine;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the gear drive box at the top of the machine showing the cover removed;

FIGURE 4 is a crosssectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 with the cover in place;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed, cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 6 is a detailed, cross-sectional view on the line 66 of FIGURE 1.

The quill or bobbin which forms a core for the package is illustrated in broken lines at 48 in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is usually, but not necessarily, made of wood, and is of circular cross-section having parts of different diameter. As shown, the base is of the largest diameter, extending into a truncated conical portion and terminating in an elongated conical but much longer portion. The base is provided with recesses by means of which it may be chucked in the winder and the upper end is provided with a protective metal cap. Quills of this construction are widely used.

The frame of the machine comprises a vertical U- shaped column 10, supported on a base assembly 12, the open side of the column facing to the rear. Bolted to the front face of the column, in a vertically spaced position with respect to the base, is a housing 14 in which is journaled a transverse rotatable shaft 16. On the righthand end of the shaft which projects out of the housing 14, see FIG. 2, are mounted the fast and loose drive pulleys 18 and 20. Within the housing and secured to the shaft 16 is a helical drive gear 22. The shaft 16 is driven by any suitable source of power such as an electric motor 26, and the connecting drive belt 24 which cooperates as conditions require with either the fast or loose pulleys, as will be explained later. I

Extending vertically through the housing 14 is a shaft 23 having elongated keyway 28 by means of which a splined connection for the shaft is made to a driven helical gear 30 which meshes with the gear 22. The lower end of the shaft 28 is journaled in a plate 32, the shaft 28 Patent 0 f 3,042,327 Patented July 3, 1962 passing through the housing 14 both at the top and the bottom.

The plate 32 is secured to the lower ends of a pair of parallel frame rods 38 and 40 which are cross-connected intermediate their ends by a plate 34 and, also, near their upper ends by a plate 42. The plates 32, 34 and 42 are secured to the frame rods against movement thereon. The extreme upper ends of these rods are also cross-connected by a bar 41. The upper end of the shaft 28 is journaled in the plate 34, and is provided with a chuck 36 of suitable construction to provide a driving connection with the lower end of the quill 48. The frame rods 38 and 40 are allowed guided vertical movement in holes formed in ears on top of the gear housing 14. They are also guided by means of a bracket 50, see FIG. 1, bolted to the front face of the column 10 at a vertically spaced point with respect to the housing 14.

The plate 42 has a passage through the center thereof which is counterbored to a larger size from the upper end to receive a rotatable thimble 44 shaped to provide a releasable bearing support for the upper end of the quill 48. The thimble 44 is held against vertical movement during operation of the machine by means of a spring loaded latch member 46, pivotally mounted on the upper side of the plate 42.

Also extending upwardly from the gear housing 14 is a drive shaft 52 journaled at its lower end in the housing, and provided with a driven helical gear 54 which also meshes with the drive gear 22. The shaft 52 passes through hearings in a cam housing 54 and extends upwardly, and is journaled at its upper end in a gear box 56 supported on top of the column 10.

In the housing 54 is a heart shaped cam 58, see FIG. 5, which is engaged at diametral points by a pair of cam follower rollers 62 mounted on a cross slide 60, which can reciprocate in the housing 54. The cross slide 60 is pivotally connected by a link 64, see FIG. 1, to a fixture 66, which can be secured at various radial distances on the tail piece of a lever 68 pivoted on a bracket 70 mounted on the column 10. The lever 68 is a bell crank lever and has a forwardly extending arm 72 on which is positionably mounted a fixture 74, in which are secured a pair of spaced parallel guide pins 76. The fixtures 66 and 74 can be secured at various radial distances on the bell crank lever 68 with respect to its pivot point to adjust the stroke of this mechanism which is a traversing guide for the yarn C.

The upper end of shaft 52, which extends into the gear box 56, is provided with a worm 78 meshing with a wormwheel 80 on a jack shaft which is journaled in a bearing in the casing 56 and in a bracket 82 which is a part of it. The projecting end of this shaft is provided with a gear 84 meshing with the gear 86 mounted on another shaft 88 journaled in the housing. This shaft is provided with a worm 90 meshing with the wormwheel 92, secured to the end of a sleeve 104. The worm 90 has a feather connection with the shaft 88 which is provided with an elongated slot 88 see FIG. 4, to receive a radial projection on the worm.

A shaft 102 extends through the sleeve 104 and has an enlarged end 94 to which is secured a pulley 96. At the juncture of the shaft 102 and its enlarged end 94, is a truncated conical formation which has a frictional fit with a similarly shaped tapered bore in the wormwheel 92. A strap 98 has one end secured to the pulley 96 and extends down into the column 10, see FIG. 1, and has attached at its lower end a weight 100. The forward end of the shaft 102 is threaded as at and threadedly mounted thereon is a handwheel 112. The sleeve 104 is journaled in the front wall of the casing and projects therethrough. The gear 108 is keyed to the projecting end of sleeve 104. Sleeve 104 has a flanged extension 114 with which the wheel-112 locks. Wheel 112 is cut away at the end, for one-half of its circumference, and the remainder has an internal groove in which the flange 114 lies, see FIG. 3. This permits assembly and disassembly, and causes longitudinal movement of the sleeve 104 and shaft 102, in either direction. The plate 116 holds the gear 108 in place on sleeve 194.

Detachably secured to the housing 56 is a coverplate 118 having a slot extending parallel to the axis of the shaft 88. S-lidably mounted on top of the cover is a slide 120 providing a support for a saddle 122 which is notched to engage the ends of the worm wheel 81). A bracket 180, secured to the coverplate has fixed therein an adjustable screw 124 which has a free sliding fit with the upturned end of the slide 129. A compression spring 126 lies between the head of the screw 124 and the end of the slide, as shown in FIG. 4. An adjustable nut 128 is threadedly mounted on the screw 124.

Secured to the plate 41 at the top of the frame rods 38 and 40 is a rack bar 132 which is held, as shown in FIG. 3, by a guide including the arm 116, in mesh with the gear 108.

As best seen in FIG. 1, there is secured near the bottom of the column a plate 134 on which is mounted a rotatable spindle 136 and whorl 138, which rotate to gether. This spindle receives the yarn supply spool S. A U-shaped brake band 140 extends around the whorl 138 and has its ends pivotally secured to one end of a lever 142, which is pivotally mounted on the plate 134. This pivot point is at 141 and is near the end of lever 142, which is pivotally connected to the brake band. The other end of this lever is engageable by a pin 154, see FIG. 2, which is secured to the end of a shaft 152. This shaft is journaled in a U-shaped bracket 144 secured to the plate 134. The upper end of shaft 152 has a lever 150 on which is mounted a shaft 146 on which a yarn guide roller 148 is journaled.

As is clear from the drawings, these parts are arranged so that under the weight of the guide roller 148 and connected parts the pin 154 will be rotated in a direction, that is towards the upper left in FIG. 1, so as to impart clockwise rotation to the lever 142 and apply the brake tightening the band 140 on the whorl 138.

A long lever 156 is pivotally supported at its lower end at 158 on the base of the machine and extends upwardly towards the gear housing 14. Towards its upper end, it is provided with a guide 168 for the belt 24. It is also provided with a latch finger 162 which cooperate with a fixed pin 14 on the housing 14. Extending from the lever 156 to the left, see FIG. 2, is a fixed arm 164 to which one end of a tension spring 166, anchored on the frame of the machine is attached. Further down on the lever 156 is a camming member 168 positioned to be engaged by a pin 169 on the bottom of the plate 32. The camming member 168 is inclined downwardly to the left, FIG. 1, and is mounted on a fixture by means of which its exact vertical position can be adjusted. On the upper outer face of the lever 156 is a friction pad 170 positioned to engage the inside face of the fast pulley 1 8.

At 172 is generally indicated a tension adjusting device for the yarn C. It includes a bracket 174 which is bolted to the front face of the gear housing 14. Mounted on this bracket are a pair of pins 176 and 180 on which are respectively journaled the grooved drums 182 and 184. The outer face of each of these drums is provided with a circular groove in which the friction rings 186 and 178 respectively, are mounted. coverplate 188 is coupled to the bracket 174 by means of a bolt 190 and a winged nut 192 acting on a compression spring 194. A sleeve 196 is mounted on the bolt and lies between the bracket 174 and the plate 188 and provides a limiting stop for the movement of plate 188 towards the drums under'the action of the spring nut to prevent over compression of the friction rings 186 and 178 which engage contact surfaces formed on the inner'face of the plate 188.

Secured on the column 10, near the top is a plate 198 on which is pivotally mounted by means of a short lever 204, a longer arm 2% on the outer end of which is journaled a sheave 282. The free end of the pivotally mounted lever 204 is forked and overlies a headed rod 286 which is adjustably mounted on the plate 198. A compression spring 2% lies between the end of the lever 204 and an adjustable stop 210 mounted on the rod 2116.

In describing the operation of this machine, it will be assumed that it has been returned to starting position, which means that the weight 168 has descended to its lowest point, and as a result, as will be explained later, the carriage comprising the frame rods 38 and 48 and the plates 32, 34, 42 and 41 with connected parts has risen to its uppermost position, which is the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

An empty quill 48 is mounted by swinging the latch 46 to one side to free the bearing thimble 44. The upper metal capped end of the quill is inserted in a seat in the lower end of the thimble and raised so that the lower end of the quill can be mounted on the chuck 36. The latch 46 is then swung back to overlie the thimble, which is then held down in its seat because the latch is spring loaded, as illustrated. The end of the yarn C is held by gripping it under the lower end of the quill at the time it is seated on the chuck.

The yarn extends from the supply spool S around the guide roller 148 and from there passes up to and around the grooved drums 1'84 and 186, back and forth, until it issues therefrom, and extends upwardly and over the sheave 202. From there it passes, as shown in FIG. 1, between the pins 76 on the traversing guide, and thence to the end which is caught by the chuck, as described. The operator then tightens up: on the handwheel 112, which pulls shaft 102 forwardly, causing the friction clutch 106, consisting of the truncated conical formation rear enlarged end 94 of shaft 102 and similarly shaped tapered bore in the worm wheel 92, to be in driving engagement. The motor 26 is of course running, and to start the machine the belt is shifted from the loose pulley 20 to the fast pulley 18. This can be done by means of a handle, not shown, connected to the lever 156 or by using the belt shifting guide 160 as a handle. The lever 156 is pushed down by this handle, it having a floating connection at the pivot pin 158, to permit this, and pushed over to the left, FIG. 2, so that the latch member 162 will pass under and behind the pin 14*, see FIG. 2. When the lever is released the spring 166 will pull it up so as to latch it in the position shown in FIG. 2.

As a result the belt 24 moves over to the fast pulley 1'8 setting the machine in motion. This includes driving the splined shaft 28 through the gear drive in the housing 14 as previously described. Thus the quill revolves, drawing the yarn C onto it. At the same time the traversing guide moves up and down in a limited arc, depending upon the reset lever arm ratio. This oscillation of the guide results from the fact that the heart shaped cam 58, driven by the shaft 52, is revolving, causing the cross slide 68 to reciprocate back and forth. Its connection to the bell crank lever 68 through the pivoted link 64 causes the guide pins 76 to oscillate up and down, guiding the yarn C onto the conical base portion of the quill 48, laying the yarn in layers thereon as the yarn is traversed back and forth along that conical portion to form a bunch.

The movement of the yarn lengthwise under tension around the guide pulley 148 will cause it to pivotupwardly, see FIG. 2, causing the pin 154 to move away from the lever 142, reducing the frictional contact between the brake band and the whorl 138. It will be noted that the weighted guide roller 148, under the action of gravity, is tending to apply the brake so that the yarn under tension will oppose this, and tend to release the brake. Thus the guide roller 148 will oscillate on the axis of the shaft 152 with changes in tension on, the yarn in such a way that increasing tension will relax the brake and decreasing tension will apply it. When the machine stops or when the yarn breaks, the brake will be fully applied, stopping spool S.

This arrangement provides a sort of tension equalization device which has the tendency to closely approximate the desired condition of constant uniform tension in the yarn being quilled. The drums 184 and 186 apply a controlled tension to the yarn after it passes from the drum 184 to the guide roller 202 and by adjusting frictional drag of the drums through the rings 178 and 186, a desired tension can be kept in the yarn, between the braking device 172 and the quill.

As is well understood in the art, notwithstanding these requirements, there will be some changes in the tension in the yarn passing and this tendency is equalized by reason of the fact that the yarn passes over sheave 202, mounted on the pivatally supported arm 202, which can react against the spring 208. Here again, equalizing tension changes result, so that the yarn is finally wound on the quill under a desired tension, which for practical purposes is substantially constant. By varying the tension in the yarn, as is well known in this art, the

.density of the wound package can be controlled.

At the beginning of the formation of the package, that is while the yarn is being wound at the base of the quill, the carriage which supports the quill is stationary, so that the device builds what is called in the art a -bunch," that is a plurality of layers wound one over the other until a desired diameter for the package is attained. When the bunch forming operation is completed, the carriage begins to move downwardly, slowly, as the quill continues to revolve.

This operation comes about through a delayed action drive in the gear box 56. During the bunch formation shaft 52 is revolving and as a result shaft 88 revolves, causing the worm 90 to turn with it. However, the worm does not drive the sleeve 104- to which the wormwheel 92 is connected, because the worm can slide along the shaft 88 through the feather connection. In other words, the worm merely screws itself along the wormwheel 92, carrying with it the saddle 122 and slide 120 while compressing spring 126.

As will be well understood as a matter of mechanics, when the worm 90 engages the face of the bearing for the righhand end of shaft 88, it can no longer proceed to the right and it will then begin to drive the wormwheel 92. It is during this period that the hunch is formed on the quill. However, as soon as wormwheel 92 begins to drive it will cause the gear 108 to revolve in a direction, that is counterclockwise, FIG. 2, to slowly move the carriage downwardly through its engagement with therack bar 132. Thus the quill slowly descends as it revolves and the traversing guide will continue to build up the package by laying layer on layer of yarn in a conical formation, so that when the quill is full it will consist of a winding of uniform diameter from the base to the upper end, but the upper end of the winding will be frustroconical.

As the carriage descends the quill driving shaft 28 comes down with it, but since it passes through its driving gear 30 with which it has a feather connection, and through the gear housing 14, it can move down through and project below that housing. In fact, of course, it moves with the carriage previously described.

By the time the quill is fully wound, pin 169 on the bottom plate 32 of the carriage engages the camming projection 168 on the lever 156. On first engagement, it will cause the lever 156 to move down slowly against the resistance of spring 166. This continues until the latch 162 disengages the cooperating pin 14*, whereupon the spring 166, which has a component of pull to the right, will snap the lever 156 to the right, shifting the belt 24 from the fast to the loose pulley. As soon as the latch member 162 clears all adjacent parts, spring 166 will pull lever 156 back to the full line position shown in FIG. 2. When the lever 156 moves all the way to the right its friction pad 170 will engage the face of the fast pulley 18 under the pressure of spring 166 to bring the main drive shaft to a quick stop. Swinging movement of the lever 156 to the right is aided by the fact that the camming member 168 is inclined as shown, thereby tending to force the member to the right.

The operator now rotates the handwheel 112 to free the conical clutch 106, whereupon the weight 100 which has been raised as the strap 98 is wound upon the pulley 96, will descend to its lowermost position, rotating the parts in the gear box in the reverse direction to raise the carriage to its uppermost position and return worm to starting position, aided by spring 126. The yarn is then cut and the loaded package removed from the machine and replaced with an empty quill.

The gears 84 and 86 are change gears to permit winding packages of different diameters.

The adjustable abutment 128 permits varying the bunch forming time period, i.e. varying the time it takes the worm 90 to engage the housing and begin to drive the sleeve 104, and hence start the carriage down.

From the above description it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the mechanism herein disclosed in a specific form is subject to considerable variation in detail without departure from the novel combination herein disclosed. It is preferred, therefore, that the disclosure be taken solely in an illustrative sense and that the scope of protection afforded hereby be determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:-

1. In a machine of the type described a carriage mounted for vertical movement, means for rotatably supporting a quill on said carriage, means for revolving said quill supporting means, means for guiding a yarn to be wound onto said quill under tension, means for moving said carriage from a starting position including delayed action means for rendering the carriage moving means ineifective for a predetermined period of time, said delayed action means including a driving worm and driven worm wheel and means for engaging the worm along the worm wheel for a limited period of time, and means for re turning said carriage to its starting position.

2. In a machine of the type described, a carriage mounted for vertical movement, means for rotatably supporting a quill on said carriage, means for revolvin said quill supporting means, means for guiding a yarn to be wound onto said quill under tension, means for reciprocating said guiding means along the axis on which the quill is supported on said carriage a distance less than the length of the portion of said quill on which yarn is to be wound, means for moving said carriage from a starting position at which the yarn would be wound adjacent the base of the quill when supported on said carriage, said carriage moving means including a pair of shafts, one of said shafts having a worm with a feather connection therebetween permitting sliding movement and the other a worm wheel driven by said worm, and abutment means for limiting the sliding movement of the worm on its shaft to render it effective to drive said worm wheel, said feathered shaft and worm forming a delayed action means for rendering the carriage moving means ineffective for a predetermined period of time to build a bunch of yarn at the base of the quill supported on said carriage, and means for returning said carriage to its starting position.

3. In a machine of the type described, a carriage mounted for vertical movement, means for rotatably supporting a quill on said carriage, means for revolving said quill supporting means, meansfor guiding a yarn to be wound onto said quill under tension, means for reciprocating said guiding means along the axis on which the quill is supported on said carriage a distance less than the length of the portion of said quill on which yarn is to be wound, means for moving said carriage from a starting position at which the yarn would be Wound adjacent the base of the quill when supported on said carriage, said carriage moving means including a pair of shafts, one of said shafts having a worm With a feather connection therebetween permitting sliding movement and the other a Worm wheel driven by said Worm, abutment means for limiting the sliding movement of the worm on its shaft to render it effective to drive said Wheel, said worm with the feathered connection forming a delayed action means for rendering the carriage moving means ineffective during the sliding movement of the worm, means for predetermining the time period of sliding movement of the Worm on its shaft, whereby a bunch of yarn is built at the base of the quill supported on said carriage, and means for returning said carriage to its starting position.

4. In a machine of the type described, a carriage mounted for vertical movement, means for rotatably supporting a quill on said carriage, means for revolving said quill supporting means, means for guiding a yarn to be Wound onto said quill under tension, means for reciprocating said guiding means along the axis on which the quill is supported on said carriage a distance less than the length of the portion of said quill on which yarn is to be Wound, means for moving said carriage from a starting position at which the yarn would be wound adjacent to the base of the quill when supported on said carriage, said carriage moving means including a pair of shafts, one of said shafts having a worm with a feather connection therebetween permitting sliding movement and the other a Worm Wheel driven by said Worm, abutment means for limiting the sliding movement of the Worm on its shaft to render it effective to drive said Worm Wheel, means for predetermining the time period of sliding movement of the worm on its shaft and forming a delayed action means for rendering the carriage moving means ineffective for a predetermined period of time to build a bunch of yarn at the base of the quill supported on said carriage, means for returning said carriage to its starting position, a clutch between said returning means and said Worm wheel shaft, and means for engaging and disengaging the clutch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 518,425 Parker Apr. 17, 1894 1,152,316 Hatton Aug. 31, 1915 1,401,123 Anderson Dec. 27, 1921 1,457,405 Spencer June 5, 1923 1,462,919 Petrea et al July 24, 1923 1,593,182 Leonard July 20, 1926 2,131,148 Siegenthaler Sept. 27, 1938 2,209,208 Reiners et al. July 23, 1940 2,326,307 Peterson Aug. 10, 1943 2,439,519 Marcellus Apr. 13, 1948 2,520,134 Drake Aug. 29, 1950 

